false 128429 4 With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. 123689 1996 Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk total:324|5:95|4:121|3:91|2:16|1:1| 324 1265 617 61 5 1 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Sep 12 12:03:46 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 12:13:08 -0700 2007 The author has a nice way of mixing background colo...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 05:28:45 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 05:28:59 -0700 2009
This work is a minor classic of financial literature. Business historian Peter L. Bernstein wrote it during the early 1990s, when faith in the power of quantitative models and financial engineering was at its apex, and he tells a heroic story. ...more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 15:54:30 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 26 19:27:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Mar 13 17:09:48 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 17:10:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Feb 07 09:27:10 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 19:54:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 true false Fri Apr 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 13:53:53 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 19:20:33 -0700 2009 1 Poignant Quotes:
The capacity to manage risk, and with it the appetite to take risk and make forward-looking choices, are key elements of the energy that drives the economic system forward.

The Law of Large...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 24 10:01:44 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 13:48:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jan 12 13:37:42 -0800 2009 Wed Sep 16 18:37:25 -0700 2009 1
Unfortunately, the history of risk is a very difficult story to tel...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 31 18:37:54 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 23:47:15 -0700 2008
Liked the beginning that explained how the number zero '0' comes about and helped to fuel the advancement in mathematics.

A little boring in the middle until it reaches the end. Among the interesting points to note:

(1) Prospect Theory ( which...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 08:53:54 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 08:58:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 04 21:55:11 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 09:57:23 -0800 2009
The book reads a little like a history book, only with valuable and int...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 08:14:07 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 08:17:27 -0700 2009
Call of it as the first law of financial thermodynamics.]]> 0 0 false false Sat Aug 15 12:01:09 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 12:03:35 -0700 2009 http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanr%C4%B1l...)]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jan 28 16:49:41 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 16:50:00 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jan 24 01:08:23 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 01:15:25 -0800 2008
As an aside, this is about the fourth ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 14:00:45 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 14:02:46 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jun 16 07:49:28 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 06:55:34 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 06 16:52:46 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 16:54:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 22 04:17:26 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 19:32:26 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Aug 24 12:42:36 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 12:42:59 -0700 2009